A wireless communication system broadcasts so-called system information to wireless communication devices in order to assist those devices with operating in the system. System information includes, for example, parameters that describe general information about the system, including the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) ID, the system bandwidth, and the like. System information also includes parameters that describe information specific to certain cells in the system, such as the allocation of control channels, paging channel information, cell selection information, and so on.
System information may change from time to time. Known approaches effectively inform devices about such a change by embedding one or more tags in the system information itself. A device reads the system information in order to check the tag(s). If the tag(s) have changed, the device considers the system information to have changed and continues on with reading the system information.
Systems with scarce radio resources and/or devices with limited battery power complicate these known approaches for informing devices about changed system information. Embedding change tags in the system information itself requires devices to consume battery power in order to read the tags. Furthermore, the tags themselves consume radio resources.